Here’s a word-art freebie from an Oprah Winfrey quote: “I don’t believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process.”
To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”
Background Image by Liliia Rudchenko.
“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!” Word-Art Freebie
If you’re suffering from football withdrawal now that the Super Bowl is over, the Friday Night Lights series on DVD might be just what you need! Of course, maybe you’ve already seen the whole series. My husband and I just finished it … we’re suffering from Friday Night Lights withdrawal at the moment. 
My family actually didn’t watch network television except for figure-skating competitions and the Super Bowl. Instead, we watched movies on DVD (video when our kids were little). Now that we’re empty nesters, my husband and I love to order critically-acclaimed series through Netflix.
The Friday Night Lights TV series is based on a bestselling book and movie of the same name. Set in the fictional town of Dillon in West Texas, the show has a lot to say both about the importance of family and about the sacrifices and responsibility required to follow your dreams.
If you love American football or just enjoy sports movies in general, you’ll probably love Friday Night Lights. For teenagers and older, there are lots of great character lessons and heart-warming family situations to be found in the 5-season series – a series that even has a satisfying ending.
For teenagers, I recommend using the series as a basis for the discussions that are important for parents to have with teenagers. There are a lot of actions going on in the series that I wouldn’t have wanted my own children to participate in, but I think those actions need to be discussed openly during the teenage years.
Here are a few examples of inspiration and character education from Friday Night Lights:
“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!” Team Motto
“Life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable. And we will all at some point in our lives fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts. That what we have is special.”
“Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He is going to fight and he is going to lose. But what makes him a man is at the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. This game is not over, this battle is not over.”
“You can’t beat yourself up because you’re taking chances on things.”
“He joins my team, he’s on my field, he’s got a family.”
“…what football celebrates is teamwork and character if executed properly, that’s what it celebrates.”
“A few will never give up on you. When you go back out on the field, those are the people I want in your minds. Those are the people I want in your hearts.”
“…there’s a joy to this game, is there not? There’s a passion, there’s a reason why we’re all out here. Other than the fact the pride that it gives us and the respect that it demands we love to play the game so let’s go out there and have fun tonight.”
“There are more important things than football.”
It was recently announced that a movie script based on the Friday Night Lights TV series is almost finished. Yay! 
Are you a Friday Night Lights fan?
Here’s a word-art freebie from the Friday Night Lights motto: “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!”
To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”
Since it’ll be Valentine’s Day in four days, this seems like a good time for love quotes. Rather than focusing on romantic love, I want to share unconditional love quotes … what the best romantic love (or any type of love) is about anyway.
Here are my favorite unconditional love quotes (with the exception of quotes from the world’s holy books):
“Unconditional love is the greatest gift of all.” Sylvia Massara, The Soul Bearers
“The only love worthy of a name is unconditional.” John Powell
“The only way love can last a lifetime is if it’s unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.” Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
“Unconditional love, agape love, will not be swayed by time or circumstances.” Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” Thomas Merton
“Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another’s personhood.” Karen Casey
“This fire that we call Loving is too strong for human minds. But just right for human souls.” Aberjhani, Elemental: The Power of Illuminated Love
“Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.” Isabel Allende
“Love… What is love? Love is to love someone for who they are, who they were, and who they will be.” Chris Moore
“The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.” Brian Tracy
“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” Mother Teresa
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love.” Oscar Wilde
“Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.” Leo Buscaglia
“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” Amy Carmichael.
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” Mother Teresa
“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get–only with what you are expecting to give–which is everything.” Katherine Hepburn
“Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.” Jean Anouilh
“Love is the doorway through which the human soul passes from selfishness to service.” Unknown.
“He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Do all things with love.” Og Mandino
“Love creates an ‘us’ without destroying a ‘me.’” Unknown.
“Where there is great love there are always miracles.” Willa Cather.
“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.” Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
“Where there is love there is life.” Mahatma Gandhi.
“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.” St. Augustine.
“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” Helen Keller.
“Once you have learned to love, you will have learned to live.” Unknown.
“Love is its own reward.” Thomas Merton.
“A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.” Mother Teresa.
“The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“Love is life…and if you miss love, you miss life.” Leo Buscaglia.
“All you need is love.” The Beatles
What is your favorite unconditional love quote?
“All You Need Is Love” Word-Art Freebie
Image at top of post by Cornelia Kopp at Flickr Creative Commons.
Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.
Here’s a word-art freebie from the Beatles’ lyrics “All you need is love.”
To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”
It’s always a good time to “try a little kindness,” but this is an especially good time. The 100 Acts of Kindness Project, which can be varied for any age group, lasts from Martin Luther King Day to Valentine’s Day.
If you want to start now, you don’t have to actually do 100 acts of kindness, although it’s possible to do 100 acts of kindness in a day if you really work at it! But the 100 Acts of Kindness Project is a great way to remind yourself to go out of your way to be kind.
Also, Random Acts of Kindness Week through the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is coming up February 13-19. And, of course, February is “heart” month.
The Heart Project is a way you can show kindness and help the American Heart Association this month by donating $5 and receiving a beautiful eBook with 100+ heart-related photographs and projects by over 70 bloggers (including me). (Note: there’s also a printed book for $20 and a way you can simply donate to the AHA.)
Kindness Projects Pinterest Board
Kindness Ideas from The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
100 Ideas for Kindness from Karma Cooler
Make a list: Ways to Be Kind from Family Matters
100 Acts of Kindness Project (my post at Living Montessori Now)
Make the World a Happier Place with Acts of Kindness (my post from last year)
“No Act of Kindness” Word-Art Freebie
“Never Forget Kindnesses” Word-Art Freebie
“Practice Random Kindness” Word-Art Freebie
“Try A Little Kindness” – Glen Campbell
Photo Credit: Photo at the top of the post by Wade M at Flickr Creative Commons.
Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.
+1 Raising Figure Skaters!
I'm Deb Chitwood. Please see the About page for more information about my family and me. 
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